Several people have asked this, so here is my simple summary of how to achieve "Zocchi results" with "normal" polyhedrons. (Funny that the d4 is now "normal" -- it sure seemed weird when I was a kid!) In other words, this is how to simulate a d3, d5, d7, etc. with your normal dice.

What's a control die? Several of the examples below require a "control die." A control die means you roll 1d6 along with the first die, and the 1d6 result indicates whether you add to the first die. For example, to simulate 1d24, you can roll 1d12 with a control die. If the control die is even, take the 1d12 result "straight"; if the control die is odd, take the 1d12 result and add 12.

How to simulate Zocchi dice results:d3: Roll 1d6 and divide by 2.d5: Roll 1d10 and divide by 2.d7: (Option A) Roll 1d8 and re-roll on an 8. (Option B) Roll 1d14 and divide by 2 (if you have a d14, which you probably don't if you're reading this, but just in case...)d14: Roll 1d20 and re-roll on 16-20.d16: (Option A) Roll 1d8 with a control die (add +0 or +8 depending on the control die). (Option B) Roll 1d20 and re-roll on 17-20.d24: (Option A) Roll 1d12 with a control die (add +0 or +12 depending on the control die). (Option B) Roll 1d30 and re-roll on 25-30.d30: Roll 1d10 with a 6-sided control die (add +0 on 1-2, +10 on 3-4, or +20 on 5-6).

Note: There are multiple ways to achieve the Zocchi dice results. The ones noted above are just the simplest ones I've personally come across. If you have an even better preferred method, let us know by posting here!

This is my edit, fixing d30 and adding "options" to the control die explanation.

goodmangames wrote:

Several people have asked this, so here is my simple summary of how to achieve "Zocchi results" with "normal" polyhedrons. (Funny that the d4 is now "normal" -- it sure seemed weird when I was a kid!) In other words, this is how to simulate a d3, d5, d7, etc. with your normal dice.

What's a control die? Several of the examples below require a "control die." If you have ever rolled a d100 using two 10-sided dice, you have already mastered the use of the control die. A control die means you roll a second die (usually a 1d6) along with the first die, and the 1d6 result indicates whether you add to the first die. For example, to simulate 1d24, you can roll 1d12 with a control die. (OPTION A) If the control die is even, take the 1d12 result "straight"; if the control die is odd, take the 1d12 result and add 12. (OPTION B) If the control die is low (1, 2, or 3), take the 1d12 result "straight"; if the control die is high (4, 5, or 6), take the 1d12 result and add 12. Choose between OPTION A and OPTION B at the beginning of the evening and stick with that choice so everyone looking at your die rolls gets the same result. I prefer OPTION B because sometimes there are more than two results needed on the control die (see d30 below).

How to simulate Zocchi dice results:d3: Roll 1d6 and divide by 2.d5: Roll 1d10 and divide by 2.d7: (Option A) Roll 1d8 and re-roll on an 8. (Option B) Roll 1d14 and divide by 2 (if you have a d14, which you probably don't if you're reading this, but just in case...)d14: (Option A) Roll 1d20 and re-roll on 16-20. (Option B) Roll a d8 and re-roll on an 8 plus a control die (add +0 or +7 depending n the control die) Roll the control die after knowing the d8 did not roll an 8.d16: (Option A) Roll 1d8 with a control die (add +0 or +8 depending on the control die). (Option B) Roll 1d20 and re-roll on 17-20.d24: (Option A) Roll 1d12 with a control die (add +0 or +12 depending on the control die). (Option B) Roll 1d30 and re-roll on 25-30.d30: Roll 1d10 with a 6-sided control die (add +0 on 1-2, +10 on 3-4, or +20 on 5-6).

"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own." -- Gary Gygax"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" -- Dave Arneson

Buy a set of BLANK polyhedral dice (i.e. a set of blank d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) then:

For:d3 use the blank d6 and label it: 1,2,3,1,2,3d5 use the blank d10 and label it: 1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5d7 use the blank d8 and label it: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,R (R means re-roll the die)d14/d16 use the blank d20 and label it: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,R/15,R/16,R,R,R,R (when rolling for d14 treat the R/15 and R/16 faces as re-rolls)d24 use the blank d4 and label it: 0,0,12,12 then throw it alongside a standard d12 and add the two resultsd30 use the blank d12 and label it: 0,0,0,0,10,10,10,10,20,20,20,20 then throw it alongside a standard d10 and add the two results (treat 0+0 as 30 of course!)

There. Zochii dice simulated for under $3. You just need to re-roll occasionally - the worst offender being the d14 where you'll need to re-roll 6 of 20 rolls (30% of the time).

Buy a set of BLANK polyhedral dice (i.e. a set of blank d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) then:

For:d3 use the blank d6 and label it: 1,2,3,1,2,3d5 use the blank d10 and label it: 1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5d7 use the blank d8 and label it: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,R (R means re-roll the die)d14/d16 use the blank d20 and label it: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,R/15,R/16,R,R,R,R (when rolling for d14 treat the R/15 and R/16 faces as re-rolls)d24 use the blank d4 and label it: 0,0,12,12 then throw it alongside a standard d12 and add the two resultsd30 use the blank d12 and label it: 0,0,0,0,10,10,10,10,20,20,20,20 then throw it alongside a standard d10 and add the two results (treat 0+0 as 30 of course!)

There. Zochii dice simulated for under $3. You just need to re-roll occasionally - the worst offender being the d14 where you'll need to re-roll 6 of 20 rolls (30% of the time).

+d9 Although writing R/15 onto the surface of d20 requires impeccable handwriting that I would lack.

If you've played Traveller, then you remember the d66, or rolling two six-sided dice reading the first result as 10's and the second as 1's. The d66 equals to a d36, in which on any other roll you have 36 possible combinations (6 times 6.) See the point? 16 is 4 times 4, thus a d44. 24 is 4 times 6 (or 6 times 4), thus a d46 or a d64. 30 is 6 times 5 (or 5 times 6), thus a d65 or a d56. You can also generates numbers between 1 and 30 by rolling 1d6 (or 1d3) and 1d10 reading 1-2 (1) as +0, 3-4 (2) as +10 and 5-6 (3) as +20.

"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own." -- Gary Gygax"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" -- Dave Arneson

If you've played Traveller, then you remember the d66, or rolling two six-sided dice reading the first result as 10's and the second as 1's. The d66 equals to a d36, in which on any other roll you have 36 possible combinations (6 times 6.) See the point? 16 is 4 times 4, thus a d44. 24 is 4 times 6 (or 6 times 4), thus a d46 or a d64. 30 is 6 times 5 (or 5 times 6), thus a d65 or a d56. You can also generates numbers between 1 and 30 by rolling 1d6 (or 1d3) and 1d10 reading 1-2 (1) as +0, 3-4 (2) as +10 and 5-6 (3) as +20.

1. I'm not keen for the d44 nomenclature they used (I realize they are adapting the d66 from Traveller where it does make sense since a d6d6 is the same as d66 when the control die is a multiple of 10) - it's really a d4d4 (since d44 means something specific when you're talking about dice and die rollers... i.e. 44 equal probabilities... otherwise the table they showcase has a problem in that d44 and d16 are shown as table column headings and one means d4/d4 to produce 16 different outcomes and the other d16).

2. This is the same as the 'control die' method. The first die is the control die and determines if you add 0, 4, 8 or 12 ... or, for those astute readers: ((d4control - 1) * 4) + d4 yields the same as a d16. Thinking of it as a control die means you don't have to use a lookup table to get a result to use in potentially another look up table (too many indexes makes for less fun, IMO).

The closest I could get was for a D30 roll 1d10 and 1d20 and add the results together.

For a d24 roll 2d12.

For a d16 roll 2d8.

Sorry, but these are just wrong.1. They produce a "bell" shape instead of a linear one. (This means that there is a higher chance of getting numbers in the middle than on the extremes.)2. They don't produce the right range. For example, 2d12 produces numbers from 2-24, not 1-24.

See earlier parts of this thread for correct options, such as the use of the control die.

"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own." -- Gary Gygax"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" -- Dave Arneson

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